Still homeless. New hotel lied about high speed internet. Struggles continue
ESPN Recruiting people like Pitt’s in-state recruiting.
I can’t seem to figure out why Bostick has not received more national attention as one of the best pocket passers in this class. Coach Dave Wannstedt might have his quarterback of the future here, and I believe Bostick should have been included in this year’s class of Elite 11 quarterbacks.
I feel he is a better quarterback prospect at this stage than 2006 Notre Dame signee Zach Frazer (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) was a year ago. Bostick is a better athlete, is a better ball handler and might have more upside down the road.
He has some of the “it” factor you hear coaches talk about when describing quarterbacks in terms of feel for the game, presence and, most important, accuracy. In Bostick, Pitt offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh is going to get every bit the competitive player Tyler Palko is without the risky decision making.
When did Palko’s competitive fire suddenly become a negative (Trevor Matich, the hideous color guy on the Friday night telecast, echoed the same thing)? I’m beginning to wonder if someone is whispering behind Palko’s back.
Penn State and Pittsburgh are dueling it out for the state’s best, with West Virginia making its presence felt early on, as well. However, Pittsburgh has done an excellent job thus far on offense, particularly filling needs in the offensive front.
The Panthers have three commits so far on offense, and all three — Bostick, OG Chris Jacobson (Pittsburgh/Keystone Oaks) and OT Dan Matha (Erie, Pa./McDowell) — rank among the state’s top 16 overall prospects.
H.B. Blades took home Big East Defensive Player of the Week Honors. Last week it was Sessions. Two in a row for Pitt. Kinder made the “Honor Roll.”
Even Kirk Herbstreit is starting to sing the praises of the Big East.
I’ve been very critical of the Big East, but I really think the improvement this year of Pitt and Rutgers, to go along with Louisville and West Virginia, gives this conference much more depth than what they had last year. There’s no question, the loss of Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College has had a negative impact on this conference. Look out for Rutgers this year…I think they’ll get to eight wins. They’re for real.
Now if only Syracuse could do something than run the back-up fullback against a goal line defense 4 times, maybe they’d get some love.
“He’s (Palko) got to be a positive influence on those young kids who will react to whatever his mentality is. If he looks frustrated or mad or upset about something, then they’re going to react that way. And he knows that, so I expect him to go out and stay focused and do his job and do it well.” — Matt Cavanaugh
I noticed that the color person for ESPN for the Pitt/Cincinatti game, commented more than once that Cavanaugh had Palko watchin films of some of the great quarterbacks, emphasizing the fact that players like Joe Montana “kept their cool” during adversity. Cavanaugh obviously felt that Palko was getting frustrated with the young players, and that frustration was potentially influencing the attitude of the team. I think Cavanaugh’s concerns are the seed of what the media is saying about Palko, and they have simply done their usual job of blowing it way out of proportion and beating the notion to death.
The sports “Nazis”, who I affectionately call them at ESPN, are adept in creating storylines that are for the most part void of factual credibility. He** they had the Dolphins going to the SB becasue Culpepper was the second coming and was going to lead the fins into the promise land. Dud!
I am of the old school who looks to the play on the field as a barometer of a player’s worth.
Did anyone else notice the play right before our field goal, when Palko tried a draw (kind of sideways) basically for better field position for the kick? It was 7+ minutes left in the 4th quarter and we were up 23-15. When we passed up trying for the TD, it very much reminded me of “The Slide”. Didn’t like it, but it was obvious the coaches were in the conservative mode by then and wanted the ‘sure’ points.
I watched that play over and over on the DVR and I think Cinci just blew that play up.
They brought everybody and had 3 guys on Palko before he could do anything.
Whatever happened, at least it wasn’t a quick kick, huh?
Most Valuable Player might be harder though, and after two games I’d have to say Kinder might be that so far.
I had this feeling before the season started that we’d be talking about Darrell Strong after each game. I’m not complaining, but I’d like to see more plays go to the TEs.
Also, this weekend we might see Dickerson and MacKenzie Matthews on the field. Matthews I’m particularly interested in as he might bring more speed to the pass rushes, but to give the guys credit where its due, Clemond and Fulmer have been playing well, and better that most expected I think. DW has stated that he’ll forgo the redshirt year for the young guys, but if he does he’s actually going to play them as contributing members. It’s working out so far, and I can’t help but think it will really pay dividends in 2007 and 2008 to get these kids valuable game experience.
We’ve got a good thing going this year, and the future looks especially bright.
Last year Palko was sacked once in every 11.5 pass attempts – this year it’s once in 43. The “O” line has to be given major credit for that so far. It seems like the QB isn’t running for his life on every drop back either. MSU has a big “D” line, but from what I’ve read they are somewhat slow.
On the other hand, MSU has rushed for 219 yds per game this season, so we’ll be tested more than in our first two game.
Plus, their cheerleaders might be better looking than ours.
“The Panthers have one main advantage heading into this game. The Spartans most likely will be looking ahead to their matchup with Notre Dame the following Saturday. Based on the results from the past six years, Michigan State has done just that. The last time MSU covered in the game prior to facing the Irish was back in 1999.
Go with Pittsburgh minus the points”
That’s from a college football website in the UK.
BTW, I like reading Omar’s posts. It’s always good to have a contrarily slanted point of view sometimes, and it injects a bit of reality into the proceedings. Just as I like this Blog because Chas isn’t a cheer leading homer (just a dedicated & interested homer).
Palko’s rep is a case in point – if his decision making is so bad how is it that he’s thrown only 17 interceptions against 47 TDs in 29 games and 753 pass attempts. That’s an interception rate of .023%! In other words 98% of his passes are not intercepted. His career TD to inteception ratio is 2.5:1, again – excellent.
I didn’t realize his historical record was that good until I looked it up, but the body of work so far shows his decision making is superb.
If anything Palko gets a little too emotionally invested in the game,which as Chas says, is his competitive fire. But, I don’t remember anyone telling Dan Marino to calm down when he was a Panther or Dolphin.